Chapter Text
Young Eloise de Beaumont-Harlander was a young French and Swiss girl born into the world by a morally incompetent Viscount father and an emotionally present Lady, sister of Heinrich Harlander. Her father studied anatomy and did not pay her any mind, while her mother focused on teaching her the rights and wrongs of the world and helping her to become a proper lady. She took into account these milestones set by her parents, but did not live up to either of these to her full potential until they were both deceased.
Moments happened where Eloise's father loved her, but he could never love her to death. She was always constantly living in the shadow of a perfect little blond boy that looked exactly like their mother, but he was the victim of foul play just months before her own birth, so her father took it as a sign of evil upon the Beaumont family. She came out with the most beautiful chestnut hair and light green eyes and looked exactly like his own mother. He hated her for that. The way such an evil, menacing devil brought forth the beauty only a mother could carry infuriated him, and he could not help but despise this vex until she could prove her righteousness to him.
She loved her father though. Gravitated toward him, even, but each step forward she would take, he would take two steps backward.
Even when she showed interest in the same studies he participated in, he would not acknowledge that. Even when her mother got visibly sick and she would ask her father to help her, he would not acknowledge her.
Upon her mother's passing, 9 year-old Eloise developed a strong want to bring more right into the world and try to help sick people, because she was tired of all of the sickness around her. Whether it was her father's stuck-up insanity or her mothers syphilis, she wanted a world where she could be healthy and happy. Her father was not very fond of her want to have a "manly" job, so he refused, but that did not stop her. She took matters into her own hands and took the time to read textbooks over the human body and functions.
11 year-old Eloise's father then passes and eases her suffering, but does not leave her the estate or the wealth, just the title of Viscountess and a few dusty textbooks. Instead, he handed the money, the estate, and... her.... over to her uncle Heinrich.
She for the most part kept to herself for the first few months, but she grew fond of her uncle and cousin, Elizabeth. Her and her uncle shared many similar interests, and he fueled those desires for her to want to become what she chose.
When her and her cousin are 19 years-old, William Frankenstein comes into the picture. It took some adjusting, but she also grew very fond of this man. They were very close, though she could never love him, since the only man she ever did love hated her guts and rejected her even in death. Elizabeth and William grew quite close and eventually... got engaged. It was quite extravagant, the party, and the gifts, and the congrats, it was all too much to bear for a young adult such as Eloise, and she was thankful she did not get married too.
William did own an estate, but it was quite too big for him at the moment, and he just involved himself into the Harlander household. She did not listen to him at all times, because to be quite frank, he was quite boring. But then he began talking about this man, Victor. William spoke so highly of him, and Eloise listened.
Victor was William's brother, and William often spoke of childhood stories and their parents. He mentioned that Victor would sit in his study and speak to himself in French, which she related to on a deep level. Her parents spoke mainly French, but the Harlander household did not know French, not even William. William talked about Victor being such an outcast with his dark hair, eyes, and tanner skin than William or their father, and Baron Frankenstein did not like that for their image, until Victor became Baron Frankenstein.
Enough about their past, though. Victor Frankenstein was a surgeon, the best one of his time, in fact. He spoke to Harlander about where Victor had resided at the time, and off her and Harlander went... to Ingolstadt.
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They walked into a dark lecture room solely lit up by the never-lasting sunlight, and her gaze was met by a tall, dark-haired man giving what she thought to be a lecture, but was this the case?
In the center of the room was a presentation performed by this man, who she observed to be a student, judging by the professors on the outskirts of the lecture area. Many people watched, including her and her uncle who sat in the easiest spot to find.
'Immpresive,' She thought, furrowing her eyebrows at the contraption he proclaimed alongside his confidence in his arguments. She too, was interested in conquering death in a way. Was he the missing piece to her puzzle, or was he the one that would find it for her?
She watched the rest of the presentation with an amused look on her face, clearly impressed by his arguments and performance.
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Victor Frankenstein, upon request from Harlander, met at the place they resided at in Ingolstadt. Eloise, again, kept to herself while Victor was around, but listened intently on their conversation and introduced herself when needed. Over the next week, Heinrich and Victor kept in touch, which ended in Heinrich funding Victor's studies while he resided at an old water tower in Liechtenstein.
During this time, away from home in Vienna, Eloise figured she might as well just make some small talk or real conversation while around Victor. While her uncle was off doing his own separate thing, she walked into Victor's room and lightly knocked on the open door not to startle him, and he looked up at her from his desk in the middle of the room.
"Hello, Mr. Frankenstein. I'm so sorry to have startled you, may I come in?" She asked, holding her hands behind her back and gently swaying side to side while she waited for an answer.
He wiped his mouth lightly to make sure he had nothing on his face and looked around his desk to make sure nothing messy was out before looking back at her and nodding. "Of course, come in," He replied while pulling out another chair for her to sit.
She walked in and pulling her hands to the front of her dress, lightly clasping one another while she sat down in front of the desk. She looked around at the various anatomical studies and surgical studies and smiled at how dedicated he was to his work.
She opened and closed her mouth, a bit stuck on what to say. He looked and her and perked an eyebrow up, shifting his head to face her completely. "Yes?" He asked.
She kept her eyes on the notebooks and textbooks before averting her gaze back to him. "You are very dedicated to your studies, Baron."
"I am," He replied.
She thought for another moment.
"Baron, you are very passionate... about your studies, and you showed your passion quite well through that presentation you performed at Ingolstadt. Though, your words are not selected carefully."
He thought with furrowed eyebrows. "Did you really come here to comment on my vocabulary, Lady Beaumont?"
She shook her head.
"No, I was wondering if you could give me a deeper insight into this idea you've got of conquering death."
"I am very sorry, Miss, but I do not work well with people. Your father has already made a deal with me regarding this project, I do not need any other handshakes."
"Uncle, and I do not want to make any deals. I would just simply like to know about this idea you have of erasing life's eradication. My mother passed due to my father's insanity, and ever since then I have wanted to do something, too, to do something about death."
He nodded and listened intently. "I think we have separate concepts about conquering death. You, if I am not mistaken, want to make people have life eternal. This is not my case. I am curious as if I am able to bring death to life, and then from that point on, have life eternal and so on."
She raised her eyebrows and increasingly became more intrigued as he spoke. "Well, I believe you are correct. Though we do not have the same thought process, I would be delighted to remain in my hearings about your process. Of course, if that enlightens you."
He squinted at her request, thinking to himself. "And you will not publish my process?"
She shook her head. "No. No sir. Your studies will not be published by me at all, unless that is your request."
He nodded. "Okay. Alright, I will think about it. Though, you leave soon, yes? How will I get you your information?"
"I will write my name and address down, if I could get a piece of paper," She mumbled, looking around for a piece of paper and something to write with. Victor handed her a pen and blank sheet of paper, and she smiled in response and wrote down her name and address. Between her manicured nails, the pen glided and created the most beautiful handwriting Victor had ever seen, apart from his own mother's.
"Lady Eloise, tell me about yourself. I truly have never met a woman so intrigued with the human body such as yourself, and if I have, she did not hold the status you do. How did you come to be acquainted with such interests?"
She looked up from the piece of paper and handed it to him, setting the pen back down next to his own piece of paper. "My father was an example for me, a good and bad one. He studied the body, which led myself to be so interested in it, but he was faulty. I tried to learn from him, begged him to teach me even, but he did not pay me any mind. Just months before I was born, my brother was murdered, and my father took my entrance as a sign of evil upon our perfect family. I came out looking exactly like his own mother, which made him hate me even more. He did not believe I was capable of obtaining such beauty.... Oh to imagine if I had come out with my mother's looks. He would have killed me..." She muttered to herself, shaking her head. "Anyway, the man was insane. He did not let me study the human body at all, but that did not stop me. I studied behind his back, and my mother fell ill. I tried to warn him, but did he listen? My mother died of syphillis and left me lonely at just 9 with an insane father. I kept studying after that, though he hated it. He barely acknowledged me except to scold me for such actions," She finished her small story, shaking her head and looking back up at him.
"I am very sorry about that. I understand how you feel, I also had quite an unstable father," He replied, putting one knee over the other and placing his laced hands on top of his top knee.
"Really? I would love to hear about your family."
He raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised by her want to hear about him. "Well, I can say I heavily relate to your troubles. I was born from a surgeon father, the best of his time, and the sweetest mother ever. I took her beauty, her raven black curls and her dark hair and skin, and my father despised me for that. He taught me everything he knew about the body, and even though he was the best surgeon around, he was flawed. He was disciplinary, every time I would get an answer wrong, he would strike me with a cane upon my wrists or face until I got the answer right. My mother died when giving birth to young William, and it was all my father's fault. Like yourself, I did not get noticed unless I was in session with my father. William was his spotlight, his young twin, while I was the burden of the family." He stopped speaking and gazed out the window, leaning back in his chair. "But he has passed now, all is well."
"Your mother seems like she was a wonderful woman."
"She was. She was the light of my life. She kept me unique. She taught me card games, how to care for my looks, and compassion. She was the opposite of my father, humorously." He thought of another thing which made him slightly chuckle and hide his expression with his gloved hand. "Me and her spoke to each other in French, which my father was not capable of."
She raised her eyebrows in shock. "French? I did the same, except with both of my parents."
"Really?"
"Oui.."
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About half a week passed, and return day came. Only her, Elizabeth, and William would be leaving. She stood in Victor's doorway, quietly looking over his journals and experiments. She quietly knocked, his head perking up.
"Come in," He muttered while returning to his drawing.
She walked over and quietly sat down, pushing a few curls out of her face. "Victor, I leave today, and I'm quite nervous. Uncle will be staying here with you, and William and Elizabeth are hardly ever home, I will be lonely. I like loneliness, because I do not want to be around people that are not of the same intelligence as myself. Though, now I know that someone has the same intelligence and interests as me, I feel less excited about being alone. Will you send me letters?"
"Miss Eloise, I will miss you, if I am being frank with myself. I have never met another individual interested in conquering death until yourself came along, and to be honest, your uncle does not give me any help. I fear he will only record my process and not help me. Regardless of that, I-" He was about to begin speaking again, but was cut off by the hollering of his younger brother and sister-in-law. "I will send you letters, Lady Beaumont."
"Likewise, Baron," She replied with a humble smile while standing up to depart.